Ludwig
by Esmeralda99
Summary: This is a continuation of Bloodline and it's a story about what happens to Lestat and Julia after Lestat makes her into a vampire.
1. Chapter 1

Everything in the world was now different for me. Every little things that was once holding some fascination in this world were now feeling dead to me. There wasn't anymore excitement for antiques and things that was from other centuries. There wasn't any interest in criminals other than to drink and kill them. No new mysteries to excite me and keep me going, nothing new and creative to write about. Now that I was the new vampire Juila, made by Lestat himself, I found everything that use to keep me going everyday, was now boring and dead, and I couldn't understand why.

Lestat was equally boring to me. After he made me, I quit my job without an explanation and he took me to his place to live with him. He showed me a few basic survival things like : sleeping in a coffin or dark spot, or stopping to feed before the heart stops, and then he went quiet. He was forever sitting in his chair, thinking and looking dead. Occasionally, he left the apartment to feed alone and sometimes he was writing. This was how he spent all his time.

I wanted to know everything there was to know but he wouldn't even acknowledge my presence. I tried to engage in conversations a few times, got upset many times, but that was all in vain. I concluded that he was forever upset with me for what happened, and now that I was a vampire, I held no more fascination for him. The attraction was gone and he was determined to make me feel the pains he had felt when he was first made and all alone as this new creature. Back in a time when he had known nothing more than I do about being a vampire.

However, I think it was even more frustrating to have him in my face than if he had just left me alone. It was like having someone with all the answers with you, night after night, but refusing to tell you. It was very frustrating. But this frustration was probably the only little bit of emotion I had left in me.

After I was turned, I felt like a completely new person. I felt more cold hearted, insensitive to mostly anything. I didn't just kill to survive, I killed cause I wanted to, and I enjoyed it. Especially when it was killing criminals. I would seek the worst of them so I could inflict the most pain to them without guilt. And doing so brought me tremendous pleasure. That feeling left me confused. I never thought of myself as someone who could do these things and feel this way. I wanted to think that it was because of my new nature but part of me knew that it was just who I've always been; merciless and vengeful, and I had a hard time dealing with that.

My nights consisted of roaming the back alleys looking for a murderer or rapist in action. Once I found one, I would save the victim when I could, take my victim away in a flash, make him or them suffer by breaking as many bones as I could and without mercy, I'd drain them and leave them to die, hoping it would be slow and painful. I'd wait for them to die, watching them, then I dropped them in a river, lake, whatever I could find. Sometimes, I buried them alive. Nobody would care about them.

When I finished my own criminal act, I felt satisfied, the rage in my heart satiated. It was so much like the feeling you get after you had the most animalistic sex with a stranger. It was a great satisfaction. But afterwards came the guilt and the shame for what you had just done, how you did it, the lack of control. That is how I was feeling. And I would spend the rest of the night walking the streets trying to understand who I was, getting no answers from Lest at, and I would swear to myself that I wouldn't do it again. But the

next night, I was back into it one more time. The urge to kill, not to feed, was more than anything I could control. I was a killing addict, a murderer of the worst kind.

Some nights, I knew Lestat had followed me, that he was spying on me. These nights, I was even more brutal. I'm not too sure what I was trying to do; spark some life into him, make him proud or simply make him see that I was after avenging what had been done to both of us. I was hoping, waiting for him to forgive me, to snap out of it. I felt so guilty that I was willing to be patient but this was agonizing for me.

Before I was a vampire I needed to feel his presence and interact with him. Now that I was his child, this need was even stronger but I would get nothing from him. Because of this, I didn't move out of his apartment but there are nights that I threatened to do so, just to see what he would do. But he did nothing. I hated him as much as I loved him.

One evening, as I was looking for my next victim, I saw this other vampire feeding off this young woman. He didn't kill her. She left willingly. She obviously knew him. I was intrigued and kept watching and following him. I followed him all the way to his home. Once he got there, he turned around and looked in my direction.

" Are you going to introduce yourself or will you keep following me this way?" He said with no emotion in his voice.

I moved out of the shadow as I saw no point in hiding anymore. I moved towards him and stopped when I was about 2 feet from him. I wasn't really afraid but thought maybe I should be.

" I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spy on you it's just that, well, I haven't met another vampire before." I said to him feeling ashamed of not having been more straightforward before.

" You never met the one who made you?" he said surprised.

" Ho yes, that one I know very well. Let's just say that we don't have much exchange anymore." I tried to control the frustration in my voice as I was thinking of Lestat.

" I see. I have to go now, it's almost dawn. You also should get going I think. But I am available every other evening if you want to come back."

" I'd love to. What time should we meet?" I was getting excited at the thought of getting to know him and it was probably too apparent.

" What time? " He said laughing. " You really don't know much do you. You met me now, you know my sent, just use your instinct and you can find me if you are looking hard enough, wherever I maybe." He turned and was about to enter.

" Wait, what's your name?"

" Ludwig."

With that he just left and went inside. I also left in a hurry, as daylight would be coming soon. When I got home, Lestat was waiting for me. He actually spoke to me that was a change.

" Where were you? It's almost daylight" He said with an angry tone.

" I know. I met this vampire and I was just talking to him. I didn't see the time." I tried not to let him show how excited I was to have met someone. I didn't want to anger or hurt him more than I had already, no matter how frustrating he was.

We were walking to our coffins as we talked. Lestat didn't need the rest anymore, nor was he afraid of the light of the day, but I did.

" A vampire?" he said intrigued. " What was his name?"

" Ludwig"

Lestat gave me a look that I didn't understand. It was the most piercing look I had seen on him before, I'm not sure I was reading this right but, it was almost fear I could read from him. I couldn't look at him looking at me this way and I just close the lid of my coffin and slept.


	2. Chapter 2

When I woke up the next evening, Lestat was sitting in his chair, waiting for me. That was strange and right away, I wondered what was going on. I was wondering if maybe he had finally snapped out of his mood of late and decided to actually spend time and talk to me. Part of me felt excited but that was all for nothing.

" Where are you going?" Was the first question he asked.

" I'm going out, I always go out when I wake up, I'm hungry." I turned to him and walked right up so I was just a few inches from his face " very hungry" I added.

Without moving, he looked straight into my eyes and said " You're not going to see that vampire you met last night are you?" with a tone that meant, I know you will.

Somehow, I knew the mention of Ludwig bothered him but I didn't expect him to ask me that question. I expected him to follow me, spy on me, but I didn't expect him to actually ask me the question straight up. I backed up a little. There was obviously more to this.

" I don't know, maybe. He was very intriguing and seemed interested in talking to me. That was a nice change." Then I turned around and went for the door. Without looking at him I asked " What's it to you anyways? Is there something I should know about him?"

" No, nothing, I don't want you to go so you won't"

I felt like starting an argument but decided to play it nice for now and simply said,

"okay, I won't." And I went out the door.

I really wanted to see Ludwig again but I decided that it would have to wait a bit. The way Lestat reacted was strange. Part of me wanted to think that he was jealous but another part of me knew that it was more than that. I have to think about this and speak of Ludwig more so I can analyze Lestat's reaction.

I was sitting by the water looking at my reflection, thinking about how things had turned out. I admit that felt lost. I couldn't imagine my life being this way forever. My only drive was to kill and feed. Nothing else interested me much. I had lost Lestat in my stubbornness and felt damn to be punished by his silence for I don't know how long. 10 years but feel like nothing to him, but to me, a new vampire, time is as it was before I was turned. I needed to leave him, but I couldn't. I loved him too much and I felt guilty for his sadness of late. Guilt is a very powerful and annoying thing.

I contemplated sitting there till the sun came up. I was feeling really empty. Then I wondered how Lestat felt because I couldn't imagine having lived this life for as long as he had. Then, Ludwig showed up behind me. I saw his reflection in the water as he spoke to me.

" So young and already feeling like life has no mysteries to you anymore. Humans these days don't make strong vampires like they use to. The suicide rate is quit high."

Without looking at him, I replied.

" Is that so? Well, maybe it's the makers that are not as good as they use to be. Ever thought of that?"

He laughed.

" That's a good come back, I have to admit. Maybe you're not as empty as you think you are. So you didn't seek me out in the end. Maybe I should just go instead of bothering you."

"You're not bothering me, please stay. I can use the company, trust me."

" All right then"

Ludwig sat beside me.

" Why is Lestat not talking to you? It isn't like him to behave that way."

I looked at him surprised that he knew Lestat and knew Lestat made me.

" You know Lestat ?"

" Ho yes, we met a few times."

" How do you know Lestat ?"

" Through Gabrielle, his mother. We met over 100 years ago. We were companions for a while. Lestat didn't exactly approve."

" I see"

I couldn't believe that this little story of Lestat not approving of his mother's companion would be enough to make Lestat react the was he did Yesterday. But then again, when he gets an idea in his mind, he doesn't let go. Maybe he just set his mind that this vampire was up to no good and that was it. Either way, I didn't seek out Ludwig, and found me, so I didn't disobeyed Lestat's wish. But now that Ludwig was here, talking to me, I might as well enjoy his company.

Ludwig was a very good looking man. About 6 feet tall, strong built like Lestat. He had jet-black hair and beautiful brown eyes. I didn't ask but he must have been around 28- 30 years old when he was made. Time might have gone by but he still had the manners of a well off aristocrat of centuries ago. I didn't think English was his mother tongue but his accent was very slight. Both times I saw him, he was dressed in black from head to toe. Black sleeveless shirt so I could see the muscles in his arms, black jeans and boots. He looked nothing like some of the vampires I saw before who would rather adopt the gothic fashion so that they could pass among people more easily. So far, he was a very pleasant person and I couldn't possibly imagine why Lestat didn't like him.

We spent the night talking about some of his adventures. I didn't have much to say. I could have told him about how Lestat and I met and how I came to be a vampire but I decided not to just yet. I couldn't fully trust him because of how Lestat reacted.

Ludwig told me that Gabrielle left him about 50 years ago, he couldn't remember exactly. They had spent a lot of time together and they help no mysteries for one another. Their life had now become boring and it was time for a change. He went on to explain that with vampires, it's always liked that. After you spend so much time with someone, there isn't an inch of that person that you don't know, and the everyday life becomes boring. Soon you begin to fight and the fights get more and more intense and eventually, you just go your own way; looking for new companions or new adventures.

I couldn't help myself but wonder if this is where Lestat and I were at. But we barely knew each other, barely spent any time together. But we are blood related and maybe our similarities; which brought us together in the first place; is also what's setting us apart now.

Suddenly, I got up and told Ludwig that I had to go. I felt worst now than I was feeling before he showed up. As bad as I wanted things to chance, I wasn't ready to be apart from Lestat. But maybe he was.

I went home with all these things on my mind. I had barely closed the door behind me that Lestat jumped on me, shoved me to the wall hard enough that I broke it, and sank his teeth into my neck, drained almost all my blood in what seemed to be an eternity of pain, but must have been only a few seconds. When he moved off me, I fell to the floor, weak, and couldn't move.

I was lying on my back wondering what this was all about. Lestat was kneeling before me and said.

" Since you are determined to not listen to me and pursue your meetings with Ludwig, you need to get stronger."

With that, he made a slash on his chest, right across his nipple and took his chest to my mouth so I could drink from him, which I proceeded to do in a hurry.

His blood felt like heaven. I lost myself in him and I didn't want it to stop. This was the first time I was so intimate, so close to Lestat and the taste of his blood was maddening. I wanted this moment to be for all eternity. He told me to stop many times but I was now too strong for him to stop me and I just put my arms around him and push him down on me even more. I locked him in and he couldn't get away from me. He intoxicated me, by his rich, old, powerful blood.

Suddenly, I felt his teeth pierced the flesh of the back of neck as he started drinking from me. We were now locked into a circle of blood exchange, and it was the most erotic, exciting, earth shattering experience I had ever had. Why was he denying this from us when we could have been doing that many times since the dark gift?

But Lestat was much stronger than me and the pleasure soon became painful. I slowly let go of the grip I had on him and he was able to pull from me with a look on his face that surely meant that he enjoyed this experience as much as me. I was just lying there still in ecstasy just closing my eyes, trying to salvage the last sensation of pleasure I was feeling from this exchange.

Lestat was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall looking as exhausted by this as me. But suddenly, it all came back to me how this happened and I had so many questions. When I was able to, I began to speak first.

" Why did you do this? I didn't go to see Ludwig. I listened to you."

Lestat looked at me, still exhausted which was good otherwise, he just might have gotten upset with me and I didn't want to know what torture he could put me under if I was to upset him too much.

"You smell of him, I smelled it the minute you opened the door, please don't lie to me. Don't insult me that way."

"I said that I didn't seek him out, but I never said that he didn't find me. I didn't lie to you, I respected you request but he found me, and sat beside me, and talked to me. What was I supposed to do?"

He got up as I was now sitting down leaning against the wall.

" Leave, you were supposed to leave." He said in an angry tone.

Then he just went to his room and shut the door. I wanted to go and take down the door and let him have it about so many things but I was too tired and the light of the day was already piercing through the cloud and I was too tired. I just gathered enough energy to go to my coffin and I was gone for the day.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun just went down and I got up to an empty house. That was a good thing because being in the same house as the silent Lestat was fast becoming unbearable. This is why I wouldn't stay in for very long after I awoke. I couldn't stand it. He was driving me mad.

Although I was hungry, it seemed Lestat's blood had made me stronger. I didn't feel the urge to feed right away which was another good thing Today. I could enjoy sometime alone at home.

I got up and took a shower. I put a towel around me and decided to put some music on. I realized that I couldn't even remember when was the last time I had taken the time to listen and enjoy some music. This was something I used to do all the time when I was alone and alive. Have I changed that much?

I went through Lestat's collection of CD's and found this French singer, Michel Sardou. There was only 1 song on this CD that I knew; the most popular one " Je vais t'aimer". The lyrics for this song were so sensual, so emotional. It made me smile to think that Lestat would be listening to this. But after all, he was French. Let's not forget.

I put the CD on and right away recognized the song. My mom use to listen to this so many years ago. At the time, I thought that was very boring but later on, when you actually take the time to listen to it, it's a very passionate song. Out of habit and nostalgy I started signing along.

A faire flamber des enfers dans tes yeux  
A faire jurer tous les tonnerres de Dieu  
A faire dresser tes seins et tous les Saints  
A faire prier et supplier nos mains  
Je vais t'aimer

Je vais t'aimer  
Comme on ne t'a jamais aimée  
Je vais t'aimer  
Plus loin que tes rêves ont imaginé  
Je vais t'aimer je vais t'aimer …..

As I was singing, understanding and feeling every words of it, I started feeling that there was a lot of things I felt for Lestat. In spite the fact that he was driving me crazy, I may never be able to get him out from under my skin. I was thinking to myself that he certainly was acting as if he had gotten me out from under his skin. He probably felt a sense of responsibility, if that was at all possible for vampires as old as him to feel anything like that, but that's it. However, that wasn't it for me. I felt tears falling from my eyes and blood stains appeared on the towel. I ran for the washroom door crying but Lestat was already standing there. Deeply lost in my thoughts, I hadn't heard him come in.

He grabed me by the shoulders and slowly bent down to licked the tears from my face. The touch if his tongue and his hands on my skin just made me feel very weak. I almost lost my balance. I wanted to be with him so badly but instead, I just stood there and did nothing.

He moved to lick the blood that had fallen behind my right ear and said softly in French.

" Je ne savais pas que tu parlais le francais" ( I didn't know you spoke French)

So I turned my head to face him and looked him in the eyes and said.

" Il y a beaucoup de choses que tu ne sais pas a propos de moi" ( There's many things you don't know about me)

He smiled and stared at me for a little while and than simply said " Hmmm"

I couldn't believe he actually smiled. Could it be that he was totally bored with me? That he truly believed that there was nothing else to me than what he knew of me? Is that why we were going at each other's throat all this time?

He turned me around so I was facing away from him and moved close to hug me. He had his arms around me holding the towel in place. While his left arm was holding me to him, his right arm was playing with my hair, moving it away from my neck, exposing my neck to him. Slowly, he tilted my head to the left and started kissing my neck. I felt myself melting into his arms and had no intentions of resisting. I realized that everytime Lestat and I got together in that way, I was never sure if he was going to kill me or love me, but I didn't care.

Slowly, he bit my neck and I just let myself go. I closed my eyes and felt myself rocking as my blood was flowing out into him. With his other hand, he took out the towel I had around me and started caressing the rest of my body but my focus now was mainly on the blood. The rest of me felt not much like what I was feeling in the blood. He put his wrist to my mouth and I bit him fast and hard, and I felt his body shiver. We were now lock together and it was just great.

When he let go, I let go too and I turned around so he could hold me in his arms and he did. We stayed like this for a while, silent. I didn't know what to say to him, didn't understand the change in him. He took his jacket off and put it around me.

He said " Come on, you better go and get dressed. Then we'll go out together"

I just nodded and went. I was very intrigued by this change in him. What was going on ? Surely it cannot be just because I spoke French and he didn't know..That'd be too stupid. This was very intriguing however, I decided that I would put this intrigue aside for now and just enjoy the moment; cause I didn't know how long it would last.

I put on this nice pair of black leather pants I had and a black sleeveless shirt with a v-cut. I looked at myself in the mirror and was pleased with what I saw. I fixed my hair nicely and put on some makeup; something I hadn't done since forever. I was ready to go.

When I walked in the room, Lestat stared at me, looking me up and down. I gave a little turn for fun. He said I looked pretty good. I thought " So far so good, ho well."

We went out together and we were both hungry now. For the first time since I was turned I felt happy and I couldn't find anyone I wanted to kill. Lestat killed without mercy, and I just watched.

He was at his third victim when he stopped, his mouth full of blood and walked over and kissed me. I felt the blood, still warm, going into my mouth and it was intoxicating and discusting at the same time.

I pushed him off slowly and said " What are you doing ?"

" What are you talking about. I'm feeding and trying to feed you, my child, at the same time. Aren't you hungry?"

" No, not tonight, must have had enough of your blood I guess."

He walked to me slowly, and I could hear the man moan on the floor, he wasn't dead.

" Lestat, he's not dead. Don't leave him like this, he's suffering. Kill him."

" And why do I have to kill him right away, let him suffer. He killed many other people you know and you, of all people, have had no mercy for his kind."

I lowered my eyes. "I know. I don't know what's wrong with me tonight. I just can't bare the killing."

He backed away looking at me with a fire in his eye. He bent down and finished him off with such a ferocity. Then sat down and started talking to me.

" There, are you happy ? He's dead. Next one now"

" Next one? You've had 3 victims tonight isn't that enough?"

" No, not tonight. Tonight, I'm hungry for the world."

" Hungry for the world or angry at the world?" I asked as I was getting annoyed with his behaviour.

He just laughed out loud. " My dear, what is wrong with you. I thought you enjoyed being a vampire. I thought you killed without mercy. Now you are upset cause I don't want to stop?"

I knew he was right, and it was weird, but that was exactly how I was feeling. I didn't know what to say. I just sat there beside him looking at the floor.  
Lestat got up and spoke. He had an upset tone to his voice.

" You don't want to feed because Today, you are happy. Your anger at the world and its injustice towards you are gone and killing now seems like the worst thing to do for you. It will destroy your happiness. You wanted to spend one night with me as if we were human lovers but we are not. You have to remember. We are not humans, we are vampires. Killing is what we do to stay alive, it's what keeps us alive physicaly and spiritualy. The spiritual part of it is the one you will never come to terms with. No matter what state of bliss you may feel, the killing will always…well it will always kill it."

I got up and took him by the arms. " I cannot believe that. We fed off each other. Couldn't we do that instead?"

He moved away from me.

" No we cannot. We both need to feed and to do that, we both need to kill. And by killing others, a little bit of you also dies. And this was your first lesson. Don't say I never teach you anything."

With that, he left quickly and I didn't follow. As usual, Lestat left me to myself to deal with my broken heart and mixed emotions. I knew this night was too good to be true. It was actualy the worst one ever because deep down inside, I knew he was right. I couldn't come to terms with that. I kept searching inside for an alternative, but there wasn't any.

I sat there on the roof of the building where Lestat had left me and thought of letting the light take me. I didn't want to return to him. There was nothing left there for me. This rude awakening had been very cruel. How could he have done that to me. Still, I had to spend more time thinking about this before drawing any conclusion for myself. Then I heard a voice behind me.

" You don't seem to be doing too good again tonight. Did Lestat let you down again with his dark ideas about the world?"

" Ludwig. I think you should go."

" Why is that. Because Lestat said not to hang around me? He's not a God you know. He doesn't know everything. He certainly doesn't know what he's got and from experience, never knew to appreciate people until they were gone."

I didn't say anything more. Ludwig certainly made sense but obviously, Lestat was hurt in some ways or he wouldn't be talking that way. But me, I was tired.

"I know you don't want to go home tonight. So where will you go?"

" I don't know, don't really care. I'll find a hole to hide somewhere."

" Why don't you come to my place."

I got up and turned to face him. "I can't go to your place Ludwig. Lestat doesn't even want me to speak with you, never mind going to your place. He'll never forgive me."

" Never is a very long time my friend. You will find that after a few centuries, you sorta forgive and forget a lot of things."

"That maybe so but there's definitely something between you and Lestat that time didn't erase no matter how long. So I'm not too sure about that."

"Well, do what you want. But you cannot stay here. Gabrielle came back to me last night. You won't be alone with me if this is your fear."

" Gabrielle, Lestat's mother?"

" Yes"

I thought about this for a little while. If Gabrielle was there, surely there couldn't be such a danger. She wouldn't let anything happen to me. Lestat was pissing me off and I needed a place to stay. I decided to accept Ludwig's offer and left with him.

Part of me was hoping that Lestat might miss me and worry about me enough to change his ways. Ha, I'm such an idiot for never giving up.


	4. Chapter 4

Ludwig's house was big, and old. His house was located away from the city, surrounded by nothing but forest and marsh land. The front doors were big, massive and tall. I laughed to myself as it made me think of Dracula's castle. Not that it looked like a castle made of stone, but because it was so secluded and big.

We made it to his house just a couple of hours before dawn. In the house, Ludwig barricaded all the windows. He claimed that some days, he doesn't sleep at all now and this way, he can stay up and do other things. One of these other things must have been watching movies because although the rest of the house was fairly empty and plain, he had one entertainment room that was totally amazing. Complete giant screen with surround sound. I was amazed by the size of that room and the top of the line equipment.

"My only little sin" He simply said with a devious smile. That smile had to hide more sins than just this room. I just looked at him and raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

He wanted me to sit down and spend the day with him but I was so tired, I couldn't stay up for long after the sun was up. Usualy, a new vampire just simply won't resist the sleep when the sun is barely coming up. Because of Lestat's blood, I realized I was more resistent to the calling of the sleep of the dead but not immune to it. Ludwig noticed and showed me a room where I could rest. It wasn't a coffin, or a hole in the basement. It was a room with a bed and no windows at all. It was actually pleasant and I felt good with him so far. I went to sleep till evening came around.

When I awoke, Ludwig was standing in my room. That was kinda weird. Did he watch me sleep all this time ? This morning, I was too tired to ask but now, I remembered how he said that Gabrielle was here. So I asked if I could see her.

"Yes, you can see her. She'll be available a little later."

"Okay"

"I really shouldn't stay too long. I hope to see her before I have to go."

"Have to go ?" Ludwig was laughing. "And where exactly do you have to go? You have no life anymore, no place to stay, no job, no family to speak of, unless you're planning on going back to Lestat?"

I thought that wasn't too nice of a thing to say. I suddenly wanted to leave now as a matter of fact.

I got up to face him and said. " Yes, to Lestat. We have unfinished business and I'm not letting it go."

" Yes, unfinished business, you certainly have that for sure."

" What's that supposed to mean?"

Ludwig just put his hand on my shoulder and said " Come now, let's feed. I'm sure you're hungry."

With this statement, he took me to his arms and started caressing my hair and speaking softly.

"We can make this pleasurable for both of us. There's no reason to be crude when we need to feed."

He was now caressing my neck and pulling my head towards his chest.

" Why don't you go first. Afterall, you are the youngest, most vulnerable, weak vampire here."

Ho boy. Something told me that I should have listened to Lestat now. I pulled away and try to keep my cool. I simply said. "I'm sorry but I'm not into this. I will go out and feed myself, alone, now." And I turned to leave, but Ludwig wasn't ready to let me go just yet.

He was now laughing as he faced me and grabbed me by the shoulder while keeping his disance. "You are so amusing. New vampires are always amusing to me. How they keep their human morals and way of life. It's all right. I probably am too forthecoming. Afterall, we hardly know each other. Come with me, I have just the perfect victim ready for you."

I'm not sure I liked the sound of that but I went anyways.

Ludwig took me down a staircase that led to a room way down underneath his house. Seemed like a dungeon to me but he assured me that it wasn't. In fact, it wasn't even there when he moved in. He added this extension because of his needs and his guests' needs for darkness. The light was dim but it didn't matter cause I could see well in the dark. At the end of the room, there was a cage of some sort, where a rotting, but breathing body was lying.

" You want me to feed on that?"

Ludwig opened the door to the cage. " Yes and no. It isn't what it looks like. Go inside, go see."

" No way, I'm not going in there. I'm leaving now." And I turned to go up the stairs.

Ludwig was faster and stronger than me. He was in front of me before I could start going up the stairs and grabbed me and shoved me in the cage.

"Let me out !" I shouted. I was in a panic.

"Not yet my dear, I'm not finished with you just yet."

"Why are you doing this? What did I do to you?"

"Nothing at all but unfortunately, I needed you."

Ludwig was turning to leave.

"What are you talking about? This is about Lestat isn't it?"

Ludwig pressed a bottom and a blinding light came on all around the cage.

" All around the cage you are surrounded by solar light. Vive la Technologie Moderne. You will not escape here unless you are ready to burn. So I suggest you make yourself comfortable."

Then he turned to leave again, going up the stairs.

"Ho yes, I was forgetting. Gabrielle meet Julia, Julia meet Gabrielle. There you go, introduction are done."

" What ?"

"Man you are slow sometimes. You are sharing a cell with Gabrielle, who is starving by the way, in case you didn't notice. She has been in there for way too many years. So try not to tick her off because although you are stronger, she is hungry for anything and everything she gets her hands on."

I was horrified. This thing was a corpse, a rotting vampire corpse. Nothing but skin and bone. It was repulsive I wanted to throw up and couldn't. It was obvious that her senses were awake by the smell of blood on me. I was so scared, I didn't know what to do.

"Ludwig, what do you want from me."

"What I wanted from you was a DNA sample, which I got when you were sleeping. I want nothing else from you. I don't care if you live or die. But I'd prefare you live because I'm sure I could use you to get Lestat. Lestat, is who I want. He warned you about me. Too bad you have to be as bold and disobediant as him. I used all that to my advantage and it was way too easy. Almost no fun in it really."

With that he was gone.

Why did he want a DNA sample from me ? Never mind that, I had more serious problems. I was caged with a very, very hungry vampire. Not any vampire but Lestat' mom. My own blood too. And since she didn't seem to have any mind of hers other than instinct, it might be that only one of us would survive, if I couldn't reason with her. Alive or dead, I always find a way to get in trouble.


	5. Chapter 5

Gabrielle was crawling towards me and she was a scary thing to look at. I could see the hunger in her eyes. I knew she was nothing but a hunter at this moment and nothing but drinking blood was going through her mind.

A rat passed by. I grabbed it and gave it to her. She jumped on the poor thing and drained him until there was nothing left. But that was nowhere near enough for her. She continued crawling towards me, with her eyex fixed on her prey, me. She moved like a snake, slow and sneaky. I knew that I would have to kill her, or she'd kill me. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to killing her.

I tried talking to her, explaining who I was, how I got here. Talked to her about her son. The only time I could read anything other than hunger on her face was when I mentioned Lestat's name, but I'm not sure she understood anything else.

So many things ran through my mind. All this was my fault. I couldn't kill Gabrielle when I was the one who deserved to die. Then again, maybe if she drank a little bit of blood from me, it would be enough to make her stronger and together we could figure out a way to get out of here. I decided that I would let her drink from me no matter the consequences. I may die from this but no matter what, I deserved to die, not her.

I sat down on the ground and extended my wrist to this thing that was crawling towards me. Gabrielle put her head on my lap and bit my wrist hard. I couldn't bare to watch. I felt the blood flow out of me faster than ever before and I realized that this could be done in a pleasurable way and a painful way. Gabrielle's starvation certainly showed me what the painful way was all about. I started feeling my strenght escaping me. I was crying out loud for her to stop but she wouldn't budge. I couldn't stand it anymore. I was now hitting her, fighting her off me. I wanted her done with this. We were now struggling and I was getting weak when suddenly she stopped and rolled to her back beside me.

I watched as her body slowly started to rejuvenate itself. It didn't come to a full rejuvenation however, it was enough for her to get her mind back. As for me, I didn't need a mirror to know that I had lost a lot of my composer. Just one look at my wrinkled hands and arms was enough. The feeling of being drained and weak was also a good indicator. I was starving in return.

"You are Lestat's child. I saw that in your blood. All these years, centuries even, you are the last descendant of the Lioncourt. I can undestand his fascination with you."

"Yes, I'm the last descendant of your family."

She interupted me to add " Not my family, Letstat's. I'm not a Lioncourt, that was my husband of another time, another life."

I didn't insist on that one. I proceeded to add.

"We have to get out of here. We can have our family reunion later. I have to say that I'm glad you could stop yourself. I thought I was going to die here."

"Vampires don't die this way, they suffer for an eternity, till they go to sleep. That's the curse."

"Good to know."

"We can't get out of here. I tried many things. I've been here for over 50 years I think."

I just looked at her, didn't know what to say.

"These lights will burn you on site."

I was exhausted. I had to sleep. Must be daylight again soon or this has just made me too weak. Gabrielle told me to rest and not to worry, she wasn't going to take more blood from me. She'll feed on the rats for now. Whether I believed her or not didn't matter cause I couldn't keep my eyes opened.

I was awake by the sound of Ludwig coming down the stairs.

" Ha, look at you now. You both fed off each other and I wasn't there to watch, what a pitty. Lovely Gabrielle. You're still sorta, not yourself just yet, but it's much better than last time I saw you. But you my dear Julia, you're loosing it."

Ludwig was holding a baby in his hands. Barely 1 year old I thought. Was he going to throw that baby in the cage? The smell of fresh blood made me almost mad. I was praying that he wouldn't bring this baby closer because I'm not sure I could resist. I turned my back to them both and closed my eyes trying to control myself.

" Julia, having a hard time resisting don't you? Hmmm." He was clearly enjoying this.

"Julia, I thought about you and all your questions, and I decided to tell you a little secret." He moved towards the cage and took the baby really close to me so it would further drive me to the point of no return. " Julia, meet your daughter"

The sound of that echoed in my brain like nothing else ever did. I turned around the face him and the baby. With more rage than I ever felt before, I replied. "How dare you say this to me? This is the most cruel thing anyone has ever done to me so far. My baby is dead, the doctors told me. This baby cannot possibly be mine. I was stabbed and the baby died. Ever since then, I have been a vampire. You're making a mistake, a very cruel one."

Ludwig looked at me, staring at my eyes deeply. Then he began to speak slowly and with satisfaction that he had us all fooled. "That's where you're wrong. This baby is yours. The hospital lied to you. They took the baby and put it up for adoption, and this baby is yours. Through my sources, I had an idea where they baby might have ended up, but I needed your DNA to make sure. Now I am and here's the clinical test to prove it if you don't believe me."

I snatched the paper out of his hands and started reading it. I had seen DNA tests before in my other life when dealing with criminals, and could read them easily. The test did say that I was the mother of a child, just didn't know if it was that particular child.

"This test only says that there's a child with the same DNA. Doesn't mean it's the one you're holding. Doesn't mean the child isn't dead."

"Very well then. Why don't you kill this child and when you drink the blood, you will know."

I simply yield out "No, I won't do that. If this is true, and Lestat finds out, he will kill you."

Ludwig started laughing out loud. I couldn't imagine what I said that was so funny.

" I shouldn't tell you this, but I will anyways. When you were in the hospital and uncounscious, the doctors managed to save the baby's life and put him in an incubator. Someone paid them a great deal of money to arrange for the adoption and for them to keep their mouth shut."

No, no, no..I wanted him to stop talking. I knew what he was about to say and I didn't want to hear it. I put my hands over my ears but he just spoke louder.

" Lestat is the one who paid the doctors. Let me repeat the name to make sure you heard it right..Lestat paid the doctors. What were his motives I really don't know. But I know he did it. So I guess he already knows. Soon, he will also know that I have everyone he holds dear in captivity, including his very fragile last generation. When that happens, he will be on his knees and I just cannot wait."

The baby started crying.."Ho, baby is hungry. I must take her back upstairs. I just wanted to bring this family together for a short while but the 2 of you will scare her with your ugly looks. Later."

I was going to kill Lestat myself. Gabrielle was talking to me but I couldn't hear nothing but the rage in my heart. Even though I couldn't be sure, I knew that it was true. Everything made sense now. Lestat's strange behaviour. His attitude towards me etc..everything and anything I had been through since that night was all clear now. But why ? Why did he do this to me, to us. This wasn't part of the plan. Or maybe it was all a lie and he had his own plan. He probably also wanted me gone while he kept an eye on my child, not his, could never have been his. This child was my flesh and blood, mine alone. Suddenly, I got up and realized that 1 solar light was burned, and Ludwig was too busy and happy to notice. This was our only chance out of here.

" Gabrielle get up, we're getting out of here. Help me pull apart these bars. We have a very small window of opportunity and we're taking it."

Gabrielle got up and helped me out but she was still very weak. I had to use all my strenght to move the bars apart enough to get out.

"The dark space between the 2 beam of lights is too small for us to get out." Gabrielle said.

I replied. " You can do whatever you want, but I'm getting out of here."

I started moving first. Gabrielle was right, the space was small, but I was determine to move. Going in between the lights sideways, part of my back, including the back of my head were touching the light and it was burning. I was in so much pain but I wasn't going to stop. The pain and rage in my heart was much stronger. I moved quickly and managed to get out.

" Gabrielle, are you coming or staying? We don't have much time."

"I don't know."

"Fine suit yourself." And I was heading for the stairs.

"Wait, I'm coming."

Part of me wanted to leave her there as a revenge against Lestat but I just couldn't. I felt pity for her.

Gabrielle hardly got any burns because she was so skinny. That was probably better because I'm not sure she would have survived it.

Gabrielle and I went up the stairs in a flash and quietly, we opened the door and nobody was there. No sign of Ludwig or the baby, or anyone else. I told Gabrielle to go, that I had to stay to look for the baby. But she said that she wasn't going to let me go through this alone. She knew Ludwig and he was way too strong and coniving for me to take on alone. I was happily surprised that she wanted to help me but reminded myself that she was the mother of the monster I fell in love with. The one that cost me everything, all the way to my life. I welcomed her help but didn't trust her. What if she was working with Ludwig and this was all a big set up ? What if Lestat was in on it too and I fell to see the bigger picture? I guess it didn't matter for now because I if she didn't help me, I was most likely doomed. If this was a trap, I was also doomed. But if she was sincere, I might have a chance. So the choice was simple.

We searched every room of the house but there was so sign of anyone, no smell of fresh blood. The house was empty. I decided that it was time to pay Lestat a visit but before, we had to feed.

There was no mercy or guilty feelings about killing tonight. In fact, it felt damn good and I didn't care who I was killing. My mind was focus on 2 things only. Finding the baby, killing Lestat. As for Ludwig, I wasn't sure how I was feeling about him. He did tell me the truth but he also used me and the baby. I still haven't figured out what he wants with Lestat. I'd probably kill them both if I could.

Gabrielle was silent. As a mother, I guess she knew what I was going through. I wondered if someone as old as her could still remember these motherly feelings. Somehow I felt that she did.

She fed like a real animal. 50 years stuck in that cage has given her an entire new perspective on the word " hunger" . There wasn't any shame or guilt in it for her. She prefered the prostitute and pimps for some reason. Whatever, I didn't care. I just watched. It was obvious she embrassed being free.

I was heading to Lestat's house but Gabrielle noticed that the sun was about to come up. We had nowhere to hide but she knew of an abandonned sewer tunnels not far from where we were. She said she'd been there many times and we could spend the day there, that'd it be safe. I was afraid this might be a trap but I couldn't do anything else but to follow her.


	6. Chapter 6

In the tunnels it was total darkness. I was determined to fight the fatigue that came over me every time the night ended but I just couldn't. This was so frustrating. No matter what I tried, I couldn't control my body. During daylight, I was dead to the world and very vulnerable to anyone or anything that may find me in that state. I couldn't stand that feeling.

I was also worried about Gabrielle's intentions towards me. We didn't speak about anything just yet but I think she knew the anger I felt towards Lestat now. I tried not to let it show because she was his mother and I thought she might stop me but most likely, it was all over my face. I wondered if she would awake before me given that she was much older and required less rest. Maybe she would kill me first so I wouldn't get to him. Or just simply tie me down somewhere so I would stay out into the light come morning. But she did nothing of the kind. Instead, she woke me up as soon as she was ready to go.

I looked at her intrigued but I didn't say a word. We starred at each other for a while in silence, speaking only with our eyes. I think she understood me, understood my feeling and anger. She knew her son was a brat and she wanted to see him desperately and only I knew where he was. I understood that she would help me get my baby but would never let me kill Lestat or hurt him in anyway.

We left quickly and I led the way to Lestat's place. I saw lights and I knew that Ludwig was in there with him. I had to contain my anger if I didn't want to blow this away. Ludwig was more dangerous that I had ever thought him to be and I didn't know if he was aware we had escaped by now. Most likely he knew.

We climbed the building quietly but it was never quiet enough for those vampire ears. Both Ludwig and Lestat heard us. Ludwig became nervous, I could sense it. He didn't have much time left to do what he wanted to do. We had to act quickly there was no more time for hiding and the surprise element sure wasn't there. I decided to just jump in through the window and deal with whatever was in front of me. Gabrielle followed.

Suddenly, I found myself in the middle of the room. Ludwig had the baby in one arm and Lestat's hair in the other hand. Lestat was on his knees in front of him. The baby was crying. Ludwig pulled on Lestat's hair to expose his neck and turned to me.

" Watch as I drink the blood of the most powerful vampire alive. His strenght will be mine and he'll be no more. If you try anything, one snap of my wrist and the baby is gone."

With that, he sank his teeth in Lestat's neck with no mercy. Lestat was in pain I could see it even if he tried not to show. I didn't know what to do but I had to do it fast. It takes only a few minutes to drain a human and surely it was the same for a vampire.

Ludwig didn't see that Gabrielle was with me. Gabrielle jumped on Ludwig and bit the arm that was holding the baby. Surprised, Ludwig let go of the baby but not of Lestat. I quickly moved to grab my baby that was now falling to the ground. Gabrielle was drinking from Ludwig as he let go of Lestat who fell to the ground. I was just looking at all this not wanting to let the baby go. I was waiting, watching to see who was going to win. I knew that at anytime, I might have to jump in because no matter what the situation was, the outcome could never be for Ludwig to live. He had to die.

Gabrielle was loosing the battle. I was looking for safe place to put the baby down. As I was about to Lestat turned to me.

" No, keep the baby safe. Just give me some blood and I'll take care of him. Hurry or he'll kill her."

I moved towards Lestat who was still lying down on the floor very weak and wounded. I gave him my wrist to drink from and he did. He wouldn't let go. He drank so much I thought he was going to kill me. I could hardly move. All this happened in a matter of seconds. After that, I could only sit with my back against the wall, my baby in my arms and watch what was going to take place.

Lestat recovered really fast and went on to jump on Ludwig who had just freed himself from Gabrielle's grip. He grabbed Ludwig's arms and pulled them to his back breaking them. Ludwig was screaming in pain but recovered within a few minutes. Lestat didn't give him time to retaliate. He sank his teeth savagely to the back of Ludwig's shoulder and after a few seconds, ripped off part of his shoulder. Ludwig was screaming in pain. Then Lestat bit his backside and ripped off another piece of him. Blood was flowing everywhere and Ludwig was screaming. Lestat bit a third time but didn't waste any blood. He drank none stop and Gabrielle who had been licking the blood off the floor was now drinking off Ludwig as well.

Ludwig went crashing to the floor in front of me as I had my eyes fixed on Lestat. I knew he was capable of cruelty but I didn't know how much of an animal he could be. It was scary. It was the first time that I understood and saw how not human he was, how not human I was now. Lestat pulled his head up and starred at me with his piercing blue eyes. He was full of blood. Blood was dripping from his mouth. I held on to my baby a little harder but I suddenly became aware of the smell of blood around me.

In a matter of minutes, I was intoxicated by the smell and the need of drinking the blood. With a hypnotizing hunger, I put the baby down on the floor and covered it. I was going to lick the blood that was on the floor in front of me but Lestat, who knew exactly what I was going through, started moving towards me. Slowly he started kissing me with his mouth still dripping from blood and I felt the blood from his mouth passed into mine, still warm. Since I was weak, I can't even begin to describe how good this felt. I started to lick the blood from his face and I couldn't stop myself. He didn't move one inch when I bit his neck as I needed and wanted more. Gabrielle gestured for him to stop me but he just pushed her away. She must have thought I was going to kill him and I should have but I couldn't.

After a while, he pushed me away. I grabbed my baby and left. He didn't try to stop me.

I didn't know what to do next. I couldn't take care of the baby during the day, and at night, the baby should be sleeping. I had no money, no friends, and no place to stay. Daylight was coming in a 4 hours and I would be sleeping too deeply to hear the baby cry. I also had nothing to feed her. I had to think of something and fast.

I knew there was an orphanage not far from where we were and thought it might be the quickest thing I could do until night falls again and I'd break in and take the baby with me. I took all her clothes off and started analysing her to make sure I could recognize her from all the other babies. I noticed that she had a birthmark on her right thigh. It was pretty unique and looked just like mine. This would do. I rang the doorbell and left her by the door after kissing her. Even with all my love for this child, the smell of her blood was hard to resist. And I sickened myself every time this feeling came over me. Someone opened the door and took her in, just like in movies. And that was it. As quickly as she had come into my life, she was now gone.

I went back to the sewers that Gabrielle and I slept in the night before and lied down for the day. Going over the events of Today, I started crying. I couldn't kill Lestat Today but I didn't know why. God knows I wanted to just a few hours before. But when the opportunity came, I couldn't do it. Then I thought of my poor baby, what was I going to do with her. Then darkness came over me and I was gone.

When I woke up next Lestat was with me and I was in his arms, my head resting on his chest. I quickly pulled away. He was already awake of course. He could spend entire days without sleeping. He spoke first.

" Alive or dead, you are still the most intriguing and beautiful creature I ever met. " He said with a little smile.

I wasn't happy to have him there. It tormented me and I didn't need that. " Cut the crap Lestat, I will never forgive you for what you've done."

" What did I do? "

" Are you kidding me?" I was pissed " You took my baby, told me she was dead, let me live with the guilt of having killed her and then turned me and treated me like shit. All these months I took your attitude and bullshit towards me because I felt guilty for something that didn't even happen. Did you even consider me in all this? "

" Did you considered me when you provoked every criminal in town to come after you while you were carrying our future?" He replied on the same angry tone.

I didn't know what to say. Didn't see the point.

" Forget it Lestat. Forget us. Go on with your life and I'll take care of hers and mine. I have a lot of work to do, lots of thinking. I'd appreciate if you could leave me alone now."

" What will you do? You have nothing. No money, no roof over your head and babies don't feed on blood in case you don't know."

" I think I got that thank you very much. I have a plan and I need you to leave."

" What plan?" he said intrigued.

I was getting impatient with him " None of your business anymore. Just leave please."

Lestat got up. " Okay look. I had a good family looking after her. They love her very much. I was making sure that she was well looked after and right now, they are missing her. It's just a matter of hours before you see her face all over TV with cops looking for her. We could bring her back to her parents."

I turned to him in anger and tears " I am her parent dummy ass, don't you realize that? She is a part of me, I want to take care of her."

Lestat grabbed me by the shoulders " I know, but you cannot. You are a vampire now, a very young one. I know what you feel every time you hold her tight. It is intoxicating. How long before you give in."

To that I slapped him. " How dare you say that I would do that to my child. "

" It is in your nature. You are more animal now that you'll ever be human." He let me go and started leaving. " You think about it. I give you 2 nights. Then I'm coming for her."

That night, I thought about robbing a bank and using that money, or killing a rich family and hire a nanny. It would work. But I don't know how long it would work for. I had to come to the realization that Lestat was right. For her own sake, I had to let her go.

I went to the orphanage and took her out. Then I headed for Lestat's place. When I got there, he was sitting in his chair as usual.

" I knew you would come. You are too smart not to understand that this is best."

" What is her name? What name did they give her? Her name is Esmeralda Lioncourt. I paid so that she kept the name we chose for her. "

I just lowered my head. " hmmm. Why Lestat ? Why do you hate me so much that you robbed me from being her mother?"

I could sense that my question surprised him. He didn't expect me to ever ask that. He got up his chair and moved towards us.

" This isn't it at all. The night you were in the hospital, the doctors told me that the baby was safe, but that you were going to die, it was a matter of hours, maybe days. I was left with not many alternatives. I knew I was going to turn you because I wanted you to live. I couldn't bare to loose you. But I also knew you wouldn't let that baby go and that the baby would be in danger with us. I didn't think you would understand at that time and if you did, I knew you'd be hurt. So I decided that it would be best not to tell you about it."

" And Ludwig, how did he come to know ? If you had told me at the time Ludwig came into my life, I would have been more suspicious."

" If you had listened to me…. Ha this is useless, I shouldn't have known you wouldn't listen much more than I would have. Ludwig has been after me for a long time. When I hadn't heard from Gabrielle in years, I imagined he had something to do with it. I was worried about her and decided to let him come my way so I might find out where he was keeping her. I was sure he was keeping her somewhere. Through you I thought I might have been able to accomplish that. However, I didn't know that he knew about the baby. He had contacts at the hospital and someone told him about it. That someone is dead now. I swear I never would have put that baby's life in danger."

" So you used me to get closer to him. You could have told me Lestat. I would have played along. Anyways, doesn't matter now. We need to give our baby back to its parents. I want to go with you."

" Okay fine, let's go."

And together we gave the baby back to the family Lestat had chosen. They seemed very nice and I'm sure my baby girl would be happy there. When I let her go, it was like a part of me went with her. The last part that was hanging on to my human life. Somehow, this meant the end of me. I was to become something entirely new. That life was truly over even if my body kept walking and my memories were intact.

Lestat and I walked together for a while without talking. Then I spoke first, the day was coming.

" I have to go, it's daylight soon"

" You're right, let's go back to our place"

" No, I'm not going back Lestat."

" So you're leaving me then."

" Yes, you know I have to."

" I don't want you to go."

" I'm not the person I was. I'm nothing right now, empty. I don't even know when I feel happy, angry or sad. I'm just a walking corpse with nothing inside. I need to be alone. I need to figure things out."

I knew he understood what I was talking about. He went to offer his wrist to me and I push it off. Quickly and passionately, I kissed him trying to go for these old feelings I had when I was human, but they were gone as I suspected. So I moved for his chest and did what I was supposed to do. I bit hard and drank his blood. Only in the blood now can I find the satisfaction I'm looking for.

Lestat put his hands in my hair and pressed my head against him making the blood flow more heavily into my mouth. Then he grabbed my wrist and started drinking from me.

Then I pulled away, looked at him one last time and started walking away. But I knew our path would cross again. It was in the blood. We are bounded.

" Lestat "

" Yes"

" I forgive you"


End file.
